AFL 2024: All the SuperCoach takeaways and analysis from Super Sunday, round 21
A pair of tense finishes proved uber-valuable in the SuperCoach world on Sunday while a POD announced himself as ‘Mr. Consistent’. Relive all the action and discover the key SuperCoach takeaways.
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It was the day of the comeback.
Fremantle led Essendon by 25 points early in the third quarter but the Bombers stormed home to claim a one-point win despite a late Fremantle goal. The scores were tied with just 36 seconds to play but a last gasp behind clinched victory for the Bombers.
Earlier, GWS jumped into the top four and put a dent in Hawthorn’s finals ambitions with a miraculous win in Canberra.
Tom Green kicked the match-winning goal with less than three minutes remaining. It was the Giants’ seventh goal of the final term while Hawthorn managed just two after leading all day in Canberra.
To close out the round Brisbane put St Kilda to the sword at Marvel Stadium with an 85-point shellacking.
The three takeaways
MR CONSISTENT
Andrew Brayshaw has achieved something that may have never happened in SuperCoach before - scoring 137 points three weeks in a row. Those scores have come from 41 disposals against Melbourne, 36 against West Coast and 33 on Sunday against Essendon plus five tackles and eight clearances.
Looking for a finals POD? He’s in just 4 per cent of teams and you wouldn’t bet against him making it four in a row against the Cats next week.
CLOSE FINISHES MATTER
The SuperCoach scoring system is designed to reward actions that impact the result of games, and there were plenty of those in two crazy finishes on Sunday.
Tom Green gave his score a huge boost by kicking the matchwinning goal against Hawthorn, then Zach Merrett lifted when the Bombers needed him. After a relatively subdued three-and-a-half quarters he had a string of crucial touches in the dying minutes, including the centre clearance and score assist for the matchwinning behind. They turned a so-so day into a well-deserved 116 points.
RED-HOT RUCK
With ruckman dropping like flies over the past few weeks and Brodie Grundy starting to underwhelm, having the right big men in your side could prove crucial in the run home. Rowan Marshall appears to be one of those big men.
He solidified his hot streak despite not winning a heap of the footy with a two-goal effort that lifted him to 126 points. It marks three straight weeks where he’s surpassed the 123-point mark and he’s only dropped below 100 twice since round 13.
Relive all the action and SuperCoach analysis below.
7:15pm: FULL-TIME SAINTS V LIONS
After two absolutely thrilling games to begin Sunday, we were treated to a bit of a snoozefest to close out the round as the Lions handed the Saints a brutal 85-point shellacking.
In terms of SuperCoach, Jack Sinclair was superb with a mammoth 144 points. Rowan Marshall was also stong and rewarded his owners with 127 points.
Dayne Zorko wan’t at his best with 96 points, while Lachie Neale managed 103.
Jack Steele maintained his slight upturn in form with 99 points. After a lean patch he hasn’t dropped below 99 in the past five weeks.
Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera put together a solid display and had 93 points, while Wilson provided a solid score for anyone relying on some bench cover with 64 points.
7:10pm: MARSHALL GOAL
Marshall has surged past 120 points and largely thanks to a clinical set shot in the game’s final minutes. It was his second goal of the day and he also had 17 touches and 17 hit outs.
7:08pm: DANIHER CALAMITY
The fifth major is seriously alluding Daniher, but he only has himself to blame for his last miss.
He dropped the mark but the ball spilled into acres of space. He had time to pick the ball up and kick an easy goal but opted to go off the ground and missed everything from close range.
6:58pm: FIVE GONE BEGGING
Joe Daniher has now snuffed three chances to slot his fifth major of the day, including two in the past few minutes. The misses won’t have too much bearing on the end result however given Brisbane leads by 83.
6:41pm: SUB RAISES EYEBROWS
Brisbane has made an eye-brow raising sub after it decided to pull Charlie Cameron from the game. Given the very healthy lead it’s likely to be to simply give him a rest as finals near. It went down as a tactical sub.
Bruce Reville has been injected into the clash as a result.
6:34pm: THREE-QUARTER-TIME SAINTS V LIONS
The Saints showed some ticker late in the term but couldn’t convert their chances.
Jack Sinclair and Josh Battle are both closing in on coveted SuperCoach tons with 90-plus points each, as is Rowan Marshall.
The popular trio of Dayne Zorko (72 points), Jack Steele (70) and Lachie Neale (70) could all miss the ton if they don’t pick up their scoring in the final term.
6:18pm: LONG TIME COMING
Better late than never.
After effectively a half of footy St Kilda has kicked its second goal of the game courtesy of Mattaes Phillipou.
The Saints young gun has been impressive in testing circumstances and has 17 disposals to his name.
6:12pm: BAG BECKONS
Joe Daniher could be in for a very big day given he just slotted his fourth major early in the third term.
The lead is now out to 61 points and Charlie Cameron also joined the multiple goal-scorers list with a tidy snap early in the third quarter.
St Kilda still only has 10 points and hasn’t kicked a goal since 13 minutes into the opening term
6:04pm: SUB ACTIVATED
St Kilda has swung a tactical sub at half-time in hope of turning things around. It means Paddy Dow enters the game, with Riley Bonner subbed out.
We’ve activated our sub â™»ï¸
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) August 4, 2024
Paddy Dow enters the game for Riley Bonner (tactical).
5:55pm: BOMBERS WIN
Another insane finish, what is it about round 21?
Zach Merrett won a brilliant centre clearance from the final centre bounce. His handball found Sam Durham who kicked a long behind to put the Bombers in front by the narrowest of margins.
Fremantle had about 20 seconds to get the ball the length of the ground but Luke Ryan’s bomb into the centre square was marked by Sam Draper.
Merrett was huge at death to jump to 115 SuperCoach points while Andrew Brayshaw finished with 138 and Hayden Young 127 for Freo.
5:54pm: THE DRAW IS ON
Scores are level with 36 seconds left!
Jye Amiss didn’t miss after getting a high contact free in the forward pocket.
It was definitely there.
ðŸ–ï¸ GOALS IN A ROW
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) August 4, 2024
THE BOMBERS NOW LEAD BY 7 POINTS 😮
📺 Watch #AFLDonsFreo on ch. 503 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/OyUPVaNHdS
âœï¸ BLOG https://t.co/Di1uGLMLQE
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/Qd060xiqJOpic.twitter.com/pnYQjMje3F
5:50pm: HALF-TIME SAINTS V LIONS
This could get seriously ugly for the Saints. The Lions bookended the quarter with flurries of goals and kept St Kilda to just one point all term. It takes the Saints to 1.4 (10) for the half and they trail by 47 points.
That being said, you wouldn’t know it looking at the top SuperCoach scorers given three of the top four are wearing red, black and white.
Josh Battle has been the pick of the players with 69 points.
Popular players Dayne Zorko and Jack Steele are both tracking okay with 51 and 46 points respectively. Lachie Neale is slightly below par with 41 points through the first half.
Joe Daniher has led the Lions goalkicking with three majors, while both Cam Rayner and Logan Morris gave two.
5:44pm: BOMBERS IN FRONT
Wow. Where did this come from? Essendon has kicked four goals in four minutes and somehow lead by seven points with seven minutes to play.
We can’t keep these updates coming quick enough!
5:40pm: GAME ON
Nic Martin makes it a five-point game between Essendon and Freo at the ‘G. All of a sudden he has 98 SuperCoach points too
5:37pm: ANDY ON SONG
If you’re looking for an in-form POD for SuperCoach finals, check out the last four scores from Andrew Brayshaw - 128, 100, 137, 137.
He could go three in a row today, hitting 118 with 10 minutes to play on the back of 29 disposals at 90 per cent efficiency.
Meanwhile, the Bombers have kicked two in a row to close the gap to 11 points. Game on?
5:36pm: RAYNER STRIKES
Dwayne Russell called it “one of the goals of the year” on Fox Footy’s broadcast. A stretch? Maybe. But it was certainly an impressive snag from Cam Rayner.
His leg strength was impeccable as he stood tall in the tackle and spun his defender 360 degrees before breaking away and snapping accurately from the pocket. The Sherrin skipped through and he was lucky St Kilda had left the goalline unmanned.
Rayner now has two goals for the game and they came back-to-back - albeit close to 20 minutes apart.
St Kilda still only has the one goal. This could get ugly under the roof at Marvel
5:34pm: DOCKER DOWN
Josh Treacy is limping from the MCG after a big crash landing at the top of the goal square when he tried to leap over Ben McKay.
The ball shot to the other end where Nic Martin kicked his first goal of the day.
Freo leads by 21 with 13 minutes left.
5:30pm: SMITH INTO ROOMS
Brisbane’s Henry Smith has headed down into the changerooms to get a cut on his head patched up.
5:19pm: THREE-QUARTER-TIME BOMBERS VS DOCKERS
Luke Ryan is on track for his biggest score in five weeks and just his second 100-plus score since the Dockers’ bye.
Nic Martin (69 points), Zach Merrett (67) and Caleb Serong (68) all lifted that quarter and are in sight of a ton, but Hayden Young has everyone covered with his fifth straight SuperCoach century.
5:16pm: BLINK AND YOU’LL MISS IT
Wow that was quick. In a matter of seconds - 19, to be precise - the Lions have a goal straight out of the centre square to start the second term after Joe Daniher gathered the footy and threw it on his boot around the corner. It extends Brisbane’s lead over St Kilda to 21 points.
5:11pm: QUARTER TIME LIONS V SAINTS
Dayne Zorko and Darcy Wilmot are the leading disposal-winners on the ground with 10 each but this is huge for Logan Morris’s 1700 owners. He has two goals straight from his four kicks in the opening term.
Lachie Neale, Jack Sinclair and Jack Steele have five disposals each.
5:05pm: STALEMATE AT THE MCG
Fremantle’s margin over Essendon sits at 13 points – as it was at halftime.
Hayden Young still leads the way in SuperCoach while Zach Merrett (57 points), Caleb Serong (54) and Nic Martin (53) have all had some good moments this quarter, but need to get motoring to post a big return in the first week of SuperCoach finals.
Luke Jackson has scored one point this quarter to sit on 50 for the match.
4:55pm: MARSHALL LAW
Rowan Marshall is the leading SuperCoach scorer on the ground at Marvel Stadium midway through the first quarter.
He has 26 points and Jack Steele has 19 for the Saints. Jack Sinclair has 16 and Mattaes Phillipou 13.
Brisbane’s surprise leader is Logan Morris (24). Dayne Zorko (17) and Lachie Neale (14) have made solid but not spectacular starts.
4:40pm: LIONS, SAINTS LATE OUTS
Eric Hipwood is out of the Lions’ clash against St Kilda. Bruce Reville is his replacement and he will start as Brisbane’s sub.
The Saints have also made a late change. Angus McLennan will make his AFL debut after Ryan Byrnes was a late withdrawal. Paddy Dow is St Kilda’s sub.
4:36pm: HALFTIME
Plenty of SuperCoach finals are being decided at the MCG this afternoon.
The players you want to be on are Hayden Young, Jye Caldwell and Luke Jackson (49 points at halftime).
It’s not so good news if you’re an owner of Zach Merrett (39) or Caleb Serong (30).
Nic Martin is also battling with seven disposals and 30 SuperCoach points.
4:10pm: DOCKERS STEP IT UP
Fremantle has dominated the early stages of the second quarter, with goals to Jye Amiss, Josh Treacy and Michael Frederick.
Caleb Serong is yet to make any kind of impact, however, with seven disposals and just 12 SuperCoach points.
3:56pm: QUARTER-TIME AT THE MCG
Another game with huge top-eight ramifications, and things aren’t going to script for Fremantle.
Hayden Young is the best player on the ground but Jye Caldwell isn’t far behind after a personal-best 13 disposals for the quarter.
Luke Ryan is back to his high-scoring ways, despite commiting the cardinal sin of handballing from a behind kick-in.
3:52pm: GIANTS WIN!
GWS has pulled off the biggest comeback in its history to steal a last-ghasp win over Hawthorn.
From being on the brink of falling out of the eight, the Giants jump to third.
What a crazy season.
3:48pm: WOW!
Giants in front.
That will be worth a few SuperCoach points.
Tom Green puts the Giants in front! 🤯#AFLGiantsHawkspic.twitter.com/8KMhEROmQi
— AFL (@AFL) August 4, 2024
3:44pm: HOGAN BRINGS GWS WITHIN A KICK
New Coleman Medal leader Jesse Hogan kicks his fifth goal to close the margin to four points with 3:39 remaining.
Hogan now has 58 goals for the season, two ahead of Charlie Curnow.
3:42pm: HAYDEN’S HOT HAND
Hayden Young has started like a house on fire at the MCG, with two goals, seven touches, a tackle and 47 SuperCoach points less than 20 minutes of play, including a goal which looked more like a training drill than anything else. Caleb Serong is still on single figures, and Merrett not much better on 11.
Young goes it alone from the centre bounce for his second.#AFLDonsFreopic.twitter.com/wIn33q4uDY
— AFL (@AFL) August 4, 2024
3:38pm: MEEK FLYING HOME
After two quiet quarters Lloyd Meek is having a huge final term, jumping over 100 SuperCoach points on the back of eight disposals and 10 hitouts.
3:30pm: GAME ON AT THE MCG
Play is underway between Essendon and Fremantle, and Bombers debutant Archie Roberts has had his first touch at AFL level – a turnover to Fremantle. It looks like neither team is running with a tagger, which is good news for Zach Merrett and Caleb Serong owners in SuperCoach. Brad Scott has backed Nik Cox in a defensive role after struggling last week, lining up on Luke Jackson.
Hayden Young has opened the goalscoring for the visitors with a long-range snap which was shepherded through by newly-re-signed Josh Treacy before Kyle Langford replied in kind at the other end.
3:23pm: GIANTS ARE COMING
GWS has the first three goals of the final quarter, the latest to Toby Greene via a rare 50m penalty to the Giants skipper.
The margin is 10 points and GWS has gone up a few gears. Can the Hawks respond?
3:20pm: STAR SPOTTING
Some famous faces are in the house in Canberra to cheer on the Hawks.
3:15pm: THREE QUARTER-TIME
Lachie Whitfield’s 31,000 SuperCoach owners are loving every minute of this.
That Giants surge was very short-lived but he just keeps getting the footy – 31 disposals and nine marks to three quarter-time.
Lloyd Meek had 47 points at quarter-time but has scored just 17 since then.
2:58pm: HAWKS ACTIVATE SUB
Calsher Dear (tactical) has been subbed off for the Hawks. Veteran Luke Breust is into the game.
The Giants’ sub Joe Fonti is on too, replacing Max Gruzewski.
2:55pm: GIANTS MAKE MOVE
GWS has gained control around the contest early in the third quarter, but the Giants aren’t making the most of their chances in front of goal – a theme all day.
They have the last two goals after Hawthorn kicked the first of the second half, and Lachie Whitfield is continuing his massive day with 26 touches and counting.
2:28pm: HALFTIME
Lachie Whitfield is blowing up the stats sheet – he has 22 disposals at 90 per cent efficiency.
Massimo D’Ambrosio has 13 touches and a goal but just four disposals and 11 SuperCoach points for Will Day in the first half under Toby Bedford clamp.
2:20pm: FINAL TEAMS FOR DONS v FREO
There are no late changes for the second Sunday game.
Alwyn Davey Jr (Essendon) and James Aish (Fremantle) are the starting subs.
2:11pm: MASS APPEAL
Massimo D’Ambrosio has been a great pick-up by the Hawks – and in SuperCoach.
A second-quarter goal gets him past the 50-point mark in the first half – a great result for his 30,000 owners.
Massimo D'Ambrosio has been such a great find for the Hawks this season 💎#AFLGiantsHawkspic.twitter.com/uSmYECfKDB
— AFL (@AFL) August 4, 2024
2:05pm: GREEN DAY
Tom Green is heating up, despite some close attention from Conor Nash.
He has seven disposals already in the second quarter and has hit the SuperCoach half-century with plenty of time left before halftime.
Lachie Whitfield still leads the field with 82 while Karl Amon (58) and Lloyd Meek (56) are Hawthorn’s leaders.
1:57pm: CRAZY STAT ALERT
Early in the second quarter Hawthorn leads centre clearances 8-0 – and Jai Newcombe has four of them.
1:43pm: QUARTER-TIME
It’s the Lachie Whitfield show in Canberra, with Lloyd Meek and Dylan Moore also doing their part in the first week of SuperCoach finals.
Tom Green has five touches and two tackles for 26 points at the first break.
1:30pm: DAY SHUT OUT
Hawthorn has responded to the Giants’ hot start and has now won the last 10 clearances, and pulled ahead on the scoreboard.
But Will Day is yet to record a disposal as he cops a Toby Bedford tag.
Lachie Whitfield, meanwhile, is on for a huge day. He already has 11 disposals, four marks and 64 SuperCoach points – and it’s not even quarter-time.
1:20pm: MOORE PLEASE
Hawthorn has had two inside-50s (compared to the Giants’ eight) and has goals from both of them.
Dylan Moore set up the first with a pass to Jack Gunston then he bags one himself.
He has jumped to 26 SuperCoach points. Jesse Hogan (28) and Lachie Whitfield (21) are the only other players over 20 in the early stages.
1:12pm: GIANTS ON THE BOARD
Jesse Hogan has the first goal of the game – and his 54th of the season, two behind Coleman Medal leader Charlie Curnow.
A long kick from Lachie Whitfield hit him on the chest. He has been one of the SuperCoach stars of the second half of the season, averaging 119 since the Giants’ bye.
1:00pm: WHAT’S AT STAKE
The fight for spots in the top eight is getting very very tight.
12:15pm: FINAL TEAMS
The team sheets are in for Hawthorn v GWS and there are no late changes – or big surprises when it comes to the starting subs.
Luke Breust (Hawthorn) has done the job plenty of times this year and Joe Fonti (GWS) is becoming a regular in the vest.
Originally published as AFL 2024: All the SuperCoach takeaways and analysis from Super Sunday, round 21
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